Adeinis Hechavarria: The Next Yankee Shortstop?

Written by Greg Fertel | 13 February 2010

Ah, I love me some prospect hyperbole. From the New York Post's George King:

“The Yankees have been on [Hechavarria] for a while,” said a scout who saw the 21-year-old shortstop work out recently in the Dominican Republic. “Two weeks ago, about 50 scouts watched him work out and the Yankees were there. They also have seen him in smaller workouts.”

Because the Red Sox gave 19-year old shortstop Jose Iglesias $8 million, industry sources expect the right-handed-hitting Hechavarria to command a $7 to $8 million signing bonus.

“Maybe more because his bat is better than Iglesias’,” a scout said.

Hechavarria, who defected in Mexico last year, played short for the Cuban Junior National team two years ago.

“There has been a lot of interest,” said agent, Bart Hernandez, without mentioning teams. “He is a legitimate player with a chance to be a real good one.”

Though the Yankees view the 6-foot, 170-pounder strictly as a shortstop, others believe he could travel the same path the Rays’ B.J. Upton took: shortstop to impact center fielder.

“He is a very good athlete and runs real well,” the scout said. “I don’t see him as a shortstop, I think he has a chance to be a center fielder in the mold of B.J. Upton. His throwing actions at short are kind of long.”

I wish I had more to tell you about the guy, but I don't know anything that isn't in King's article. However, I'm totally on board with the Yankees signing him. The Yankees seriously lack organizational depth at shortstop—I didn't have any in my top 30 prospect list—so this would be a tremendous boost there.

The price of $7-8 doesn't sound too bad if he has a fraction of B.J. Upton's athleticism and baseball ability. Plus, it's not my money. So go ahead and get this guy signed, Cashman. It would certainly be a nice boost to the ravaged farm system.

Update: Reader Mike R. passes along a blog post with some more information on Hechavarria. Also, head over to the 4:58 mark on this video to see Hechavarria display awesome range going to his left.